Just a little while longer, my lady.
My lady, be strong. Your child will be here any minute now.
"HALL OF HELL"
Sir Daigo?
One who steps into this Hall of Hell has made a choice.
To cast off Buddha and the gods in favor of the demons.
I see it is futile to try and stop you.
But hear me one last time.
Sir Daigo.
To cast off Buddha is to tread the path of evil.
It is to no longer be human.
If you cross this line, hell will surely await you.
Priest, we are already living in hell.
The holy path to Buddha you pray for exists nowhere.
You will pay the consequences.
I care not.
I thank you, Sir.
This will be my salvation.
This world is indeed hell, just as you said.
The prayers I offered seemed more and more pointless.
I always feared that some day I would begin to doubt Buddha.
I am glad to die before that day comes.
Sir Daigo, please stay away from the demons.
Do not let yourself succumb to evil.
It's too late for that.
12 Demons, I am Daigo Kagemitsu.
Lord of Ishikawa,
and vassal to the governor of Kaga Province.
Repeated famines and epidemics have swept my land,
enfeebling my people to the point of death.
As things stand, I shall never attain the power and renown I crave.
My ambitions will remain a mere dream.
But I refuse to rely on the mercy of Buddha or the gods.
What I am about to say to you is not a prayer.
I came to make a deal.
If you'll protect my land and let me rule the country,
I will give you anything of mine.
Anything. Take whatever you wish.
Do you hear me!
My lady, just a bit more.
Goddess of Mercy, please protect me...
He is born!
What is it?
My lord.
Is the baby born?
-Yes, but... -What? Say it.
He is born, my lord.
He is your son.
-My lady... -An heir, you've done well!
Sir, no...!
I do not know what happened.
He is alive, but has no limbs, eyes, nor a nose.
He doesn't even have any skin.
I will give you anything of mine.
Anything. Take whatever you wish.
My lord, I feel a deep love for this woeful child of ours.
No matter his appearance, he is our son.
My dream will be fulfilled.
-My lord? -The demons agreed to the deal.
You need not worry.
Thank you for bearing him.
What are you doing, stop!
-Wait! -Forget him. He never even existed.
No! Don't!
My lady, you mustn't get up yet.
Please, have mercy.
He wouldn't survive anyway.
Then let him pass away in my arms.
Enough!
You will bear another child. You must.
The next one will be the heir of a great ruler.
What...
It was blown away when the lightning struck.
The midwife said it sacrificed itself.
Sacrifice?
"HALL OF HELL"
Party is over
But I still wanna dance
I can't even sleep
Someday, one day my passion's fire will
From the beginning I knew
One day the flames would die out
Hey, I thought I didn't need anything
But even now, I'm so serious
Ah... I still have time to make it
Ah... but I’m gonna burn it up, baby
Sorry darling, it’s not that easy
But surely it’s not that bad either
Give me fire
Light it up, baby. I’m gonna burn it up, yeah
Party is over
Sorry darling Hurry up Ah... I still have time to make it
Give me fire
Light it up, baby. I’m gonna burn it up, yeah
#1 The story of Daigo
Whatever could've caused this?
Either way, being alive would only be harder for you.
Now, go on dear. Buddha will take care of you.
I should be used to this sort of thing by now.
Do you desire to live?
The rest is up to your luck, dear boy.
I smell something.
The stench of evil.
What's there?
Not human.
Yet, not a ghoul, either.
I smell a curse.
Daigo Kagemitsu's land at the border of Kaga.
After overcoming many famines, it was on its way to prosperity.
But the tiny soul, too weak to even let out a cry,
quietly vanished off into obscurity.
There was none in the land who knew about it.
16 YEARS LATER
At that time, there was always a war being fought somewhere.
Human lives were hardly worth more than a stone on the ground.
You there.
Are you the doctor who gives prosthetics to the dead to mourn for them?
Your name is Jukai, am I correct?
How worthy of you.
I just figured it'd be better than throwing away the prototypes.
But I'm sure they are grateful for it.
Come, come, take a look. Quality goods, straight from the capital.
This is real silk. A wealthy princess wore it.
Come miss, feel it.
And this is a sake jug from the Yamata no Orochi legend.
All one-of-a-kind quality items.
I'll give you a bargain. I'll even throw in these dried fish.
First come, first served.
Yikes.
Found you, Dororo.
This is the load we were carrying, isn't it?
Got any proof?
Shut up! You said you were starving, so we hired you to look after our goods.
This is your usual trick, we hear.
You little rascal.
Some guys asked me to make sure you paid for it.
It's your fault for being so naive.
You should learn from me.
Right, no more nice guy.
You'll pay for this, just like an adult.
Stop, you little brat! Oops.
Catch me if you can.
-Get back here, dammit! -We'll get you!
Thank you, mister.
Don't just stand there, say thank you.
Is there a festival today, Mama?
Of course not. We just had one not long ago.
But he had a mask on.
Where'd he go, dammit.
What's this?
Oh, crap.
Horse manure!
Wash your faces with those, and come back later.
He's asking for it now.
Ah, that was fun.
Too bad about that load though. That was good stuff.
Oh well. I'll just go for the next fool.
What is it? Can't find your mommy?
You hungry? Oh, all right.
No, I can't. You have to learn how to live on your own now.
It wouldn't do you any good.
Learn how to find your own food.
I'm saying this for your own good.
You're mine now, Dororo.
Hey, let go of him!
Is he yours? Then he'll pay for what you did.
-Stop it. -Then do what we say.
Had enough? Don't you ever steal again.
-You brat! -You asked for it.
Enough.
Never show your face here again, got it?
No.
Nobody orders me around.
I choose where I live!
You wanna die, huh?
Be my guest!
Bring me that straw mat. I'm wrapping him up.
Okay, Boss.
What are you doing? Hurry up.
Boss, there's some weird guy up there.
Huh?
He's got a face like a doll.
His eyes too. Where's he looking?
Creep.
Hey you, got a problem?
We're not some bullies, you know. We're the ones being bullied.
Hey, you hear me?
What, you wanna fight?
No, I don't think he's looking at us.
Those eyes.
He's looking behind us.
Huh? There's nothing out there.
Just some floating garbage.
What the...
It ate him...?
He's not looking at it!
Wow, that was amazing!
Your face. Those eyes, ears and all are fake, right?
How can you see?
But you can't hear, can ya?
I wouldn't be able to walk a step with my eyes closed.
But you run and jump without using a cane.
How do you do that?
What is it? What's wrong?
Are you hurt?
What's going on? Your skin...
"HALL OF HELL"
What the...
T-This can't be!
Mother!
I hunted a turtledove for you. It will make you strong.
I, Tahomaru, will cook it for you.
How wonderful.
It rained like this that day, too.
My dear son.
Hyakkimaru.
You... Your face...
What's going on?
What are you?
Are you human?
"Deiki"